Wrestling roundup: Warm Pleasant Ridge welcome

Rams have big night in first home dual meet; Raiders rack up pins at Bishop Ward

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By Brent Lager

The Leavenworth Times - Leavenworth, KS

By Brent Lager

Posted Dec. 7, 2012 at 12:07 AM

By Brent Lager

Posted Dec. 7, 2012 at 12:07 AM

Easton, Kan.

Like a cat playing with a trapped mouse, Pleasant Ridge’s Jared Johnson kept taking down his Onaga opponent Thursday night, only to let him back up.

It was obvious the 3A state runner-up was polishing his arsenal, but even so the sheer dominance of the Ram wrestler stood out.

Though the 182-pounder couldn’t get a pin, he did capture a major tech fall to tally one of his three wins on the night. The performance was one of the many PR highlights from the evening, which saw seven of the team’s grapplers finish 2-1 on the night.

“We started a little slow, maybe a little cautious and kind of got out wrestled against Doniphan,” Rams coach Darren Weber said. “But when it counted we stepped up and wrestled better. The kids got the win, responded with another win over Onaga and then came up just short against Silver Lake.”

The team totals went as follows: Pleasant Ridge dispatched Doniphan West 45-24; edged Onaga 35-33, but then suffered a close loss to Silver Lake 40-36.

Johnson was the only Ram to go 3-0, moving his season record to a perfect 8-0. Still, PR had a bushel of other wrestlers end with winning marks.

“Jared looked very impressive and dominant again,” Weber said. “Logan was one of the standouts on the evening as well with the way he competed all night. We had a lot of guys go 2-1, which was good to see.”

On Saturday, PR will compete at the Sabetha Tournament starting at 9 a.m.

Raiders earn five pin wins at Bishop Ward

With a smaller squad than most, the Immaculata wrestling team will not win many team competitions this year.

But that won’t keep the Raiders from improving individually, and Thursday was another sign of that progression.

Competing at Bishop Ward against Harmon and the host school, five Imac grapplers recorded pin wins including Paul Gilbert at 120, who finished 2-0 on the evening.

“I think the effort was great tonight,” Imac coach Bobby Hancock said. “That’s definitely what I was needing to see. We made some early season mistakes, but their consistent effort allowed us to overcome those and gain some wins.”

“Max Campbell had a great match and made very few mistakes,” Hancock said. “Bruce Stanley looked really good. He was actually taken down in the first period, which caught him off guard. But then he battled back and finished really strong.”